Elephants never forget, should art museums remember too? Historic ivory collections as ambassadors for conservation education

Abstract

Ivory in art museum collections has been a contentious topic during recent years, with some parties calling for its destruction. But analysis of media reactions to the parallel strat-egy of burning modern ivory stockpiles may ofer insight to the likely efectiveness of that course of action in museums: such burns have seemingly fallen short in sending a clear and enduring message to the intended demographics—be this consumers, dealers, poach-ers or trafckers. This prompts us to suggest an alternative to the destruction of museum ivory: that art museums with ivory collections take on the challenge and responsibility of imparting powerful conservation messages. This article explores the potential of ivory art-works as educational ambassadors, as well as the international reach of museums to tar-get demographics in key ivory consumer regions such as South East Asia, and the ethical obligations of museums with ivory collections to participate in conservation education. In placing a useful lens on these currently controversial artworks, museum ivory would be endowed with a new critical relevance as educational ambassadors for contemporary con-servation issues, simultaneously ofering justifcation for the preservation and display of these historic artworks that many museums are presently reluctant to exhibit. In highlight-ing the potential of museum ivory as a vehicle for conservation education we highlight the need for heightened holistic collaboration across disciplines to ensure that conservation messages reach diverse audiences in novel and impactful ways.